Big names on grant winners list

Some of the biggest names in Australian science are among the big winners of more than AUD$100 million in National Health and Medical Research Council grants, announced on Wednesday.

The total figure incorporates $80 million for medical research, $9 million for new equipment, $10 million for clinical trials and $2.5 million for researchers turning their work into commercial products.

Program grant winners included:

• $7,895,340 to Prof Rick Kefford and his team at the University of Sydney, for their work on the molecular determinants of risk, progression and treatment response in melanoma.
• $6,316,140 to Prof Les Irwig and team at the University of Sydney for their study into the use and effectiveness of medical screening and tests.
• $11,361,890 to Prof Sam Berkovic and team at the University of Melbourne, for their work on the molecular basis and mechanisms of epilepsy.
• $11,601,890 to Prof Colin Masters and his team at the University of Melbourne, for their work on neurodegeneration of the brain, particularly under Alzheimer's and Creutzfeld-Jacob disease.
• $12,940,270 to Prof Alan Cowman and his team at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for their work on how the malaria and leishmaniasis parasites cause disease in humans.
• $4,737,000 to Prof Dennis Moss and his team at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, for their work on the immunology of viruses like Epstein-Barr.
• $5,646,950 to Prof Simon Mallal and team at the Centre for Clinical Immunology and Biomedical Statistics, at Murdoch University in WA, for their work on issues around viral diseases HIV and hepatitis C.

A full list of grant recipients is on the NHMRC web site.